Fun with Fire

Inside the Fire Truck

The LONG ladder - 105 feet high

Olga and Fire Truck


At last, my childish dream fulfilled. Play with fire. No, not really. But we had a great evening last week out at the training facility for the Austin Fire Department. The department went all out to give us a good time. They brought in various fire trucks, including the special fire truck they have for high rise buildings. The ladder will go up to seven stories. The moral of that fact: the fire chief suggested that we stay no higher than the seventh story when in a high rise hotel.

The training facility is located south of town, near 183 and McKinney Roughs Parkway. The facility includes a training tower for learning how to battle fires in tall buildings, an infra-red facility for training to work in the dark, and plenty of space for learning how to use a fire hose. The facility also has training classrooms. Our evening consisted of time in the classroom for a talk on the fire department and EMS. Later we went outside for hands-on experiences.

The fire department has 1100 employees, 45 fire stations, and covers an area of 280 square miles. The department has functions that go beyond fire fighting. The department employs inspectors of new and existing structures, fire investigators, and educational services on fire prevention in the community. The department works cooperatively with Travis County. The busiest fire station is the station at Sixth St. and Trinity. That station answers about 6,000 calls per year. All fire fighters are certified EMTs. Did you know that? There is fierce competition to become a fire fighter. There are usually about 5,000 applicants for each new cadet class of forty. Amazing! 5% of the fire fighters are female.

The EMS department works closely with the fire department. That department has a budget of $44 million per year. However about $20 million is recovered in fees for service. Most health insurances cover the cost of having EMS come to your house. The average cost is around $800.
The EMS folks cover about 2600 miles, since the EMS department covers the city of Austin as well as Travis County. The department has thirty three units and answers around 110,000 calls per year, or an average of about 350 calls per day. 40% of the EMS staff is female. In a review session with EMS staff, we relearned CPR. BIG NEWS: the state of the art recommends chest compression ONLY, no more breathing into mouth.

All the EMT and fire fighting staff spent time with us. They were consistently friendly, informative, and interested in our questions. A great evening!